Haunting four words an anorexic young woman was asked by nurses before she tragically ended her own life
Nurses asked a young woman suffering from severe anorexia what her ‘secret to being thin’ was shortly before she died, her grieving father has told a coronial inquest.
Jennifer Michelle Matters, 22, took her own life in May 2021 after a two-year battle with the eating disorder.
The Adelaide graduate nurse and biomedical sciences student told friends and family she was simply “exhausted” at the time of her death, when she weighed just 29.5kg.
Ms Matters’ death is now the focus of a coronial inquest which began on Monday, revealing details of her battle with anorexia.
Shaun Matters told the inquest his daughter was admitted to Flinders Medical Center numerous times following her diagnosis.
He recalled how staff often treated Jenni like a burden and claimed that two nurses once asked her for diet tips. Advertiser reported.
“One day the nurse said to Jenni, ‘Oh, you’re so skinny’ and describing the eating disorder as skinny is a badge of honour, it’s not something you do with eating disorder patients,” Mr Matters told the inquest.
‘Another nurse asked for diet tips. She said ‘what’s your secret?’
A coronial inquiry into the death of Jennifer Michelle Matters (pictured) has heard the struggles she faced with hospital staff as she battled anorexia for two years
Jenni Matters (pictured) weighed just 29.5kg at the time of her death
Jenni’s hospitalizations were both voluntary and involuntary.
During her two-year struggle, she sought help from her doctor, psychologist, psychiatrist and dietician.
Her heartbroken father felt that nurses wanted anorexic patients to leave so that there could be room for ‘real patients’.
He described the experience on the hospital ward as very poor and claimed some staff had no empathy for patients.
Mr Matters claimed on another occasion to have heard a nurse describe her as ‘the anorexic in the corner who has to watch you eat’.
“We had to leave our daughter, whom we loved dearly, and tell her this was the best place for her,” he said.
‘What the staff does not understand is that no one chooses this, it is not a choice, it is a disease. It is a devastating disease.
“They need to know that it’s a disease that people have to try to recover from, and that’s what makes it so difficult.”
Mr Matters added that the lack of funding for people struggling with eating disorders is also a major problem.
The inquest also heard how Mrs Matters had hoped her death would ‘help others, even just one person’ and overhaul the delivery of eating disorder services.
Her father, Shaun Matters (pictured), told the Adelaide Coroner’s Court that a nurse had asked what her ‘diet tips’ were as she sought treatment for the disease
Ms Matters told her friends and family she was simply ‘exhausted’ before taking her own life in May 2021, weighing just 29.5kg.
Outside court, Matters described his daughter as a “wonderful person” who “wanted to help people.”
“(She) suffered from a terrible disease, but still wanted to help people until the end,” he told reporters.
He hoped the inquest would reveal the lack of resources for the care of anorexia and other eating disorders.
“If there is more focus, better training and more resources from the state and federal government … then it won’t all be in vain,” Mr. Matters said.
The investigation continues.
If you or someone you know needs support, call Lifeline: 13 11 14, Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636 or the Butterfly Foundation on 1800 33 4673.